Myth Buster

The following is from a sermon I planned, but never delivered. I don’t know why it just came surging back, compelling me to share it, but someone out there must need it. It’s about a myth, wrongly interpreted, that effects life today and needs correcting.

The Myth: In the Bible creation story, God created a lush garden for man to live in. God made a woman so man wouldn’t be lonely and so he could populate creation. There was total freedom to use anything except the fruit of the tree (of knowledge) in the garden’s middle. Doing so meant death.

Life was good until one day the woman met the snake, who spoke to her, saying that, God was wrong; they wouldn’t die from eating the forbidden fruit. Instead, they would have knowledge (of good and evil) and be equal to God. The woman ate; found it good; shared with the man and were then discovered. For their disobedience, God invoked hatred between snakes and women; further cursed women with painful childbirth and subjugation to men and cursed men with having to work hard to exist. Oh, they were now also mortal, so God kicked them out of the garden to ensure they couldn’t eat from the Tree of (eternal) Life.

Ancient Interpretation of the Myth (still influencing life today): Man (meaning males) had complete freedom over creation and would know only happiness by obeying one simple rule. Woman was made as man’s companion and his procreation tool. Being inferior, she naturally succumbed to the wiles of the snake (Satan/evil) and caused man to disobey. Of course, God discovered this and when confronted, man blamed woman and woman blamed the snake. Disobedient woman caused everyone to be cursed.

The Old Moral: Woman caused disobedience, pain, hard work, death and a limited life. Woman was therefore eternally relegated by God as inferior to man.

Modern Interpretation: Man (as humanity, meaning both male and female) has total freedom over creation. While this seems utopian, what’s the sense of existing if there is no challenge? How does one know pleasure without pain, rest without work? Utopian living makes us nothing more than God’s pets. The nurturing feminine part of our soul heard the snake (representing logic, not evil) and found that knowledge was a good thing. The woman’s role in the myth then actually represents humanity’s awakening to the knowledge of life’s realities. God (as the snake) caused this to be discovered so humanity, by its own impetus, could rise above pet status. Humanity now understood: Life requires work; we are mortal; we can now know and enjoy creation’s pleasures.

The New Moral: Simply, that we know we are here for a limited time and must work in order to appreciate the pleasures in creation.

The Decision: The result of the ancient story created divine justification for women’s subjugation and assigned them fault for mortality. The error in this is obvious but its damage persists throughout today’s world. Women are still widely regarded as flower pots (see following). Although knowledge has increased exponentially and the gender equality gap has narrowed, women and men are still not equal. While men and women are necessarily different, we are also equal. Each soul is made from the Sacred Masculine and Feminine qualities in varying proportions.

This myth is BUSTED as to its old interpretation.

One More Thing You Should Know: With women subjugated, ancient men had time to think and one idea they came up with was that their seed contained the complete making of a new being (like a flower seed) and women were only the receptacle to grow the seed (like a flower pot). Because man’s seed was so important, he decided it was too valuable to waste by spilling it on the ground or planting it in inappropriate places (like animals or by lying with a man as with a woman). Doing so would surely result in some abominable creature (i.e. centaur, mermaid, talking bush). Since man’s nature was to plant seeds galore, it was happily decided he be allowed to have many flower pots at once.

This mistaken theory is behind Leviticus 18:22 (to not lay with a man as with a woman) which is referred to incessantly as proof that God is against homosexuality. It was simply a rule to prevent creating monsters. Now that you know, you also know that anyone using it today, saying God is against homosexuality, is a Neanderthal.

Lastly, know that God is against nothing but is for one thing only: Love.

Demonstrate your appreciation of life by tending the garden and loving each other.

I appreciate your description of man treating the woman as the flower pot. Very nice, never heard it said that way before. But you left out all the New Testament references to homosexuality <– these are what are key, not Leviticus.